Under certain circumstances, thieves can “skim” a card, by copying the data on the magnetic stripe of the card. If the data on the magnetic stripe on a payment card is skimmed, an unauthorized user can create a fake card with the copied data. The fake card can then be used in a fraudulent manner.
A number of security mechanisms are offered by a number of companies. Some companies have developed ways in which a specific pattern of magnetic particles can be embedded in the magnetic stripe of a credit card. The magnetic stripe may encode consumer data such as an account number, and the magnetic stripe itself may have a unique fingerprint that is defined by the specific pattern of magnetic particles. The fingerprint may be used to identify and authenticate the card that is being used. That is, even if thief is able to skim consumer data from a portable consumer device, the thief will not be able to obtain the unique fingerprint. This technology is commercially available from Magtek™.
Although the use of this technology would help authenticate credit cards and the like, the widespread adoption of this technology is not practical as software and hardware changes would be needed for thousands of point of sale terminals. In practice, in a payment processing system, many different types of authentication technologies would be used and there is a need to provide for systems which can use many of these types of different technologies. Hence, there is a need for systems and methods, which can integrate such technologies and use them effectively.
Embodiments of the invention address the above problems and other problems individually and collectively.